World championship leader admits to getting a "bit too excited" following wild start to Austrian Grand Prix.

Starting from fourth on the grid after backing fully off in the wake of Max Verstappen's crash, in his desperation to get to the front the teenager twice ran wide on the opening lap, yet managed to hold position.

At the start of the following lap he made a move on Charles Leclerc but ran wide yet again, passing the Ferrari in the process. Told to hand back the position he slowed to allow the Monegasque through but in the process was passed by Max Verstappen who subsequently passed the Ferrari also.

Antonelli staged a brilliant comeback, and when the chequered flag fell he was third, just 1.983s down on the winner - his teammate - however, the Italian couldn't help but feel what might have been had it not been for those early mistakes.

"I was a bit too excited on the first few laps," he admitted post-race. "I definitely didn't drive well.

"I did too many mistakes," he continued, "and on the first stint on the medium I lost three or four seconds with the mistakes. And I was struggling with the brakes.

"After I changed tyres, I reset and the pace at the end was very strong. It was a shame I joined the party a bit too late. On my side, there's a lot to improve, but I have to minimize the mistakes.

"I think this weekend was good learning for me, especially after starting so strong the weekend," he said. "I kind of lose a little bit my rhythm. Probably, I don't know, maybe I relaxed a bit too much or I was too confident, but for sure it was good learning. And now we'll be back stronger in Silverstone."

Referring to his teammate, whose win brings him within 40 points, the teenager said: "I think there will be, for sure, weekends where he's going to be in front and weekends where I will be in front.

"He's very strong, he's very complete. And especially in qualifying, he still has that little bit of an edge."

"I think he was very eager at the beginning to get the victory done in the first couple of laps, and that cost him dearly," Toto Wolff subsequently told Sky Sports. "But I like the enthusiasm, he just goes for it up the hill, throws the anchor probably 30 meters too late... the same thing down here (at Turn 1), and that's how it should be.

"I've said it before, we want a driver to be full on the attack all the time," he added, "you can't you can't accelerate a donkey, but you can calm down a racehorse."